There are roughly 74 Texas high school football graduates on this year’s Houston Cougar program. None were born when the Houston Oilers played their last snap of football in the Lone Star State.
Still, the legends that played for the franchise have been spoken of fondly from generation to generation. Such illustrious names include Warren Moon, Bruce Matthews, and Texas legend/Tyler running back Earl Campbell—who even has a sportsman award granted locally each year.
When the Houston Texans were formed in 2002, fans hoped the team would don the Columbia blue uniforms that defined the popular aesthetic of the Oilers that came before. When that didn’t happen, this year’s Houston Cougars took matters into their own hands, suiting up in a similar “H-Town Pride” inspired blue, white, and red kit that acknowledged the city’s fondness to the decamped NFL franchise.
The Tennessee Titans weren’t tickled by the commemoration.
The NFL’s merchandising and licensing division sent a cease-and-desist letter to the school demanding it halt any further use of the uniforms. To add further salt in the wound, the Titans will reportedly wear the uniforms against the Houston Texans on December 17th.
According to the Houston Chronicle, the letter stated that UH was a “blatant copy” of the Oilers’ jerseys.
Rice wore similar Columbia blue uniforms on September 30 against East Carolina. Additionally, the Cincinnati Bengals blatantly poached the Grandview Zebra’s white-and-black striped uniform design. No legal action was pursued or mentioned in either instance.
It’s an issue that has even irked Houston legend J.J. Watt. Watt, a huge contributor to Texas high school football through the kindness of his Justin J. Watt Foundation, recently spoke on the Pat McAfee show on Thursday about his bitterness in regards to the jerseys:
“I just know, having lived and played there for 10 years, and the people there and the connection they have to Earl Campbell, Warren Moon, to Billy White Shoes, to the guys that wore those uniforms and what that meant when they played in that Astrodome, it hurts to not be able to wear those in Houston and it hurts to see them being worn somewhere else.”
As one of the best (and most valuable) designs in the NFL, it’s next to impossible the Oilers throwbacks will return to Texas any time soon. As part of the cease-and-desist letter, UH complied by removing social media posts and in-game hype videos that featured the throwback jerseys.
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